


ALLOT (of Secrets and Discoveries)

by foreverandaday_1



Series: A Long List of Titles - ALLOT [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Iron Man 2, Magic, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24751969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreverandaday_1/pseuds/foreverandaday_1
Summary: Nat is tasked to sort out Stark, with a little help of magic.
Relationships: Happy Hogan & Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: A Long List of Titles - ALLOT [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726654
Kudos: 15





	1. Settling In

**Author's Note:**

> part one of three or four, depending how much I add

‘Tony Stark?’

‘Yes Agent.’

An audible sigh, and, ‘anything else?’

‘Use your Rushman cover, Natalie, and keep an eye out for deterioration. He seems to be ill.’

‘Yes sir, how long do you think this will take?’

‘A few days or weeks, up to about three, to get your cover established, working at regular 9 to 5 hours, and maybe another month or so. So two months. You’ll still get S.H.I.E.L.D pay, as well as your new job’s pay, and we’ll find you an apartment to stay at. Minimal trips to S.H.I.E.L.D, but daily evening debriefs and check ins. You can have a communicator to use for emergencies in case you need back up, but keep it off unless you're using it. Understood Agent?’

‘Yes sir.’

…………………………………………………………

Blood Toxicity 22%

……………………………………………………….

The streets were crowded, and it was rather warm for a Thursday morning at 8:30 am. It wasn’t stuffy, as there was a mild breeze, but all the people caused some more heat. Yesterday's rain had gone, leaving a slight sheen on cracks in the roads. All the cars were dry, and warm to the touch. Most had opted to walk as per usual, traffic was too difficult in a city like this. It was pointless to even try. Most were in suits and business wear, a staple in the going-to-work rush of people. It wasn’t as bad as the lunch-rush, or I-want-to-go-home-now-move rush. That was stressful.

Nat herself was striding down the pavement, weaving past an onslaught of pedestrians, through the towering maze that was NYC. There were occasional side steps, and a very uncommon halt, before she reached the gleaming metal beacon of Stark Industries. She stepped through the doors, feeling slightly apprehensive. 

As soon as Stark went to the Senate hearing, S.H.I.E.L.D knew something was wrong. He was almost overly cocky, as if he had nothing to lose, and was just off. So Nat was called in by Fury, and set to work. It was her second week, but most presumed she had been there for months, and had come back after a brief transfer/loan to a branch in London. This excused her slight accent, something she rather liked and covered up the Russian tang to the American base. The job was… Easy. Nothing difficult, she was good with legalities and politics, and knew her way around a lawyer. Working in Legal was a nice and normal job she would do if she had to pick one. 

After leaving the lift (elevator), she went to sit at her desk. It was next to a wall-window, and a bit larger than a cubicle desk. There were a few notes on the desk, and some more documents on her tray. Most were at the bottom, non-emergencies, with you in the middle, mild-emergencies, and none at the top, emergency-emergencies. Nat got to work, reading through documents and highlighting the important parts. A few tricky loopholes were now orange, and some miss-able fine print was now red. The notes were easy fixes, a few explanations, and a reminder for a meeting at 1:00 pm. 

After a long morning and a quick dinner accompanied by a stroll around the block, Natalie Rushman made her way to Mr Harper’s office. She knocked.

A muffled, ‘come in,’ was the reply.

‘Ah Natalie, come and sit down please.’

She did as she was told.

‘We need a notary to go up to the 78th floor, and help sign some paperwork tomorrow. Can you do that?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Here is the paperwork, make sure you read it through. Miss Potts will be the new CEO, so make sure you make a good impression.’

‘Okay. Thank you for choosing me.’

‘Of course. You’re one of our best workers, and get through everything really quickly. If you can go to Miss Potts’s office, she’ll take you to wherever they’re doing the signing. You might get a promotion with this, so it’s very important.’

She nodded. ‘Of course, may I go?’

‘Yes yes, off you go, I'll give you another day to do all the non-emergencies, just make sure everything else is finished, okay?’

‘Yes sir.’

……………………………………………….

Blood Toxicity 41%

………………………………………………

After speaking with Miss Potts and going over the contract, making sure everything was to her liking, Nat was led into the lift. The soon-to-be-CEO was unsure of Natalie, and didn’t seem to like her. It wasn’t the clothes, Nat had opted for flared black trousers and a blouse with average courts, but she did leave her blazer on her chair. She couldn’t be jealous, but seemed rather defensive already, and had only just met Natalie. They didn’t talk going up the few floors it took to get to Stark, and everything felt a bit awkward. 

Walking into the room, Stark was sparring with Happy. He looked tired and sweaty, almost feverish. He, however, was still winning against Happy. It didn’t look as effortless as it could, but then again Stark wasn’t exactly an expert.

‘The notary’s here,’ interrupted Miss Potts, ‘Can you please come and sign the transfer paperwork.’ She sounded irritated already, and moved towards the chairs.

Stark continued, but replied all the same, ‘I’m on Happy’s time,’ and placed a well aimed punch at his shoulder. They both continued.

Nat followed Miss Potts, before opening the papers and flicking to the right page. 

‘Here, here and just over this page, ‘she turned a few pages, ‘right here. Same as Mr Stark, he just needs to sign a few more, and I’ll need his impression as well. I’ll go and get another pen.’

‘Of course,’ replied the strawberry blonde, before looking up at Stark in time to see him dirty boxing, which Happy was not pleased about.

The men then looked up as Nat entered the room, both staring. She made eye contacts, and then followed Miss Potts.

‘I promise you,’ Miss Potts began, ‘this is the only time I ask you to sign over your company.’

‘I need you to initial each box,’ cut in Nat, as Tony got patted on the head by Happy.

‘Lesson one, never take your eye off of the…’

Stark then attacked, looking a bit peeved off, but Nat could admit she would be too. When he had won, Stark turned around, addressing Nat.

‘What’s your name lady?’

‘Rushman, Natalie Rushman,’ she smirked internally, very James Bond.

‘Front and centre. Come into the church.’

Nat smirked again, it looked like things were picking up quicker than anticipated. And what was he drinking?

‘No,’ cut in Miss Potts, ‘you’re seriously not gonna actually…’

‘If it pleases the court, which it does…’

‘It’s no problem,’ Nat reassured.

‘I’m sorry, he’s very... eccentric.’

Nat drew towards the ring, taking measured steps, before toeing off her shoes. It was a good job she wore courts today, as she wouldn’t want to fiddle with buckles. She then swung under the rope hat Stark had lifted, making eye contact. A few seconds was all she needed to get some thoughts and memories. He was dying, albeit slowly, and had already accepted the fact. He was unsure on how to tell Pepper, and had frequently contemplated not telling her at all. He liked the look of Nat, but wanted to focus on Pepper without getting tangled in another problem. Nat was happy about that, it was still uncomfortable cheating on her Husband, even though he said it was okay, and understood that it was a part of her job. 

Stark, feeling a strange nudge in his brain, said, ‘what?’ before breaking eye contact.

‘Can you err, give her a lesson.’

Great, try not to be too good Nat, okay?

He then sat next to Pepper.

‘Come to this side of the ring, have you ever boxed before?’

Nat didn’t quite register his question, trying to focus on Stark.

‘I have, yes.’

Happy didn’t take her seriously, but she cleared her throat.

Stark then spoke up, asking how to spell her name.

‘R U S H M A N,’ she replied, turning to face him.

‘Lesson number one,’ said Happy reaching out an arm, ‘never take your eye off the oppon...’

Nat, feeling startled, grabbed his arm, twisting. She then swung her legs up, rolled, and flipped him over, clinging onto his arm.

‘Oh my God!’ exclaimed Pepper, jumping up.

Nat then removed her leg, rolling up. She exited the ring and slipped her shoes back on.

‘Happy!’ exclaimed Pepper again.

Nat grimaced, oops?

…………………………………………………

Blood Toxicity 53%

…………………………………………………

Monaco. Stark was racing a car. Honestly. It was like he was trying to die sooner rather than later. Nat was getting frustrated. And then Vanko turned up, slicing cars in half, not even caring about civilians.

Why did she accept the job of Pepper’s PA again?

She ended up casting a few basic, and wandless, parsel protection charms, as her wand was at home. Luckily the so-called ‘Mystic Arts’ were quite useful to channel more power for wandless, and wordless, magic. They would hold, but could be stronger, she needed more practice under pressure. It would, hopefully, prevent any major injuries, shrapnel and debris to cross over the barriers surrounding the track. Protecting the track, however, was too obvious, and she couldn’t risk that.

Stark was injured, but managed to defeat Vanko with his suit. But he looked a bit shook up after that, probably needing a lie down. A fractured rib, bruising on most of his torso, a dislocated shoulder, possible ankle fracture and a torn ligament in his wrist. He was a walking hazard, and refused to let anyone treat him. Nat managed to fix the fractures and torn ligament with a spell, and he fixed his shoulder himself. The bruising would have to stay, or he would get suspicious.

She was also wary about Hammer, who had a very unhealthy jealousy and envy of Stark. Someone to watch out for, as he didn’t seem too concerned about Vanko, just thoughtful.

………………………………………………….

Blood Toxicity 68%

…………………………………………………


	2. The actual secrets and discoverie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end for now. I think I'll focus on the main story. There is probably a few plot holes, but I was reinspire so there'll be a few changes to the story.

After a flight back to New York, Nat returned to doing paperwork, organising and an occasional phone call. Her and Pepper were trying to clean up what happened in Monaco. The new CEO was currently arguing with PR about something or other. She sounded irritated and ready to start swearing, but somehow managed to remain calm and professional. 

‘I don’t, no. No. I said no to the reporters. Umm, I suppose so. Natalie, can you add Lilana Nicolson to the 2pm conference. Thanks. Yes, all sorted. Ok, goodbye.’ A sigh, ‘Hello, Miss Potts here, yes. Can I please talk to… Mr Richards. Of course. Ah, hello, yes we are sorting that out. I spoke to you a few days ago, about the insurance. Could you just give me a second. The report on car damage please Natalie, thanks. Yes, erm upwards of $6000 of damage on that particular car and a further, err, $730 for compensation. And medical bills for two of the drivers. Ok. I’ll call them. Yes, I’ll have a look. Any slots open for a meeting? Tuesday at 4pm, is that okay? Yes, good. Add that to the schedule please Natalie. Bye, see you next week.’

Colonel Rhodes then comes through, looking tired and ready to reprimand. ‘Where is he?’

Pepper grimaced, ‘in his workshop, sulking I think.’

‘Thanks Pep, I’ll go talk to him, see if I can do anything.’

‘Thank you Rhodey, good luck.’

As Rhodes passed Nat, she slipped a small stone in his pocket. It was round and a marbled blue-grey, with a smooth shiny surface as if coated in water. Runes, four in total, interconnected and woven together, glowed gold as red liquid congealed in the dents. As quickly as it began, it stopped, the stone slipping down further in the pocket, and out of sight. 

……………………………………………………..

Blood Toxicity 89%

……………………………………………………...

Stark was looking in a mirror, with his blue shirt open. His eyes were fixed in the centre of his chest, where a network of bluish lines spread out from his arc reactor. He was covered in a sheen of sweat, and looked to be breathing heavily. The brown hair atop his head, was mussed up and uneven. The blue material hung just past the stool he was sat on, covering the black slacks Stark wore. An equally blue shade had blossomed around his eye, something Nat had left to heal on its own. A palette of yellows, purples, and an unfortunate shade of brown was mixed in with the blue.

Nat, being both a spy and a witch, was practically silent, and decided to announce herself. She had gotten a good look at the spreading infection in his chest.

‘Mr Stark, I have your watches.’

He looked up alarmed, and closed his shirt, hurrying to button it up. Nat turned away, respecting that he didn’t want her to look. After a minute, he turned around, looking much more put together.

‘Thanks Natalie, err the Jaeger, brown strap. Please.’

She smiled, picked up the watch and walked towards Stark.

‘Here you are.’

‘Just, put it there, I don’t…’

Before he could finish, she placed it down on the chair arm next to where he was standing. He picked it up and sat down, fiddling with the buckle before placing it on his wrist.

‘Do you think, Natalie, that I should cancel? It’s…’

‘Ill timed…’

‘Inappropriate.’

She smiled for the third time, ‘Don’t cancel because you should, cancel if you want to.’

Stark nodded, and they lapsed into silence. Nat went back to the case of watches, and closed it.

After a few minutes Stark spoke up, ‘If it was your last birthday, hypothetically, what would you do?’ He looked up at her, his eyes wide and sincere, the most open she had seen him. Nat pondered the question, not as Natalie or Natasha, but as Natalia. She thought about her children, Loki and the rest of her puzzle-piece family.

‘I’d do whatever I wanted, or haven’t done, but most importantly, with those closest to me. I would focus less on it being the last, and more of what I can do.’

…………………………………………………………

Blood Toxicity 92%

……………………………………………………..

Stark and Rhodes were fighting.

Pepper was glaring accusingly at Nat.

Nat’s mind was running a mile a minute.

Right then. Should have brought my wand. Can’t summon it though, Peppers looking at me. Protective charms, then, do I have any more stones? Yes, good. Rhodes should still have the tracker one. Parselmagic will work better. I’ll have to tell Fury. But how to get away. 

{Protect. Guard. Cover.} she whispered, in parseltongue.

The glass windows shattered away from the crowds, as people started running away. Nat followed, turning on the communicator, and pushing it into her ear.

‘Sir?’

‘Yes agent, report.’

‘Colonel Rhodes and Mr Stark are fighting in suits. No casualties but the building is losing structural integrity and a few are still watching.’

‘Backup?’

‘Not at the moment, everything can be handled afterward. I suggest upping the meeting to tomorrow.’

‘Thank you Agent, goodbye.’

‘Bye.’ 

…………………………………………………..

Blood Toxicity 96%

…………………………………………………

‘Go and stay near the entrance, both of you. Take Mitchels with you, he needs to watch for anyone who might want to come in. Turn everyone away, and use your badge if needed, and only if needed. We don’t want this getting out. Understood?’

‘Yes.’

A nod.

‘Understood.’

The three agents left, one being dragged by the other two, who looked annoyed to be stuck with him. Nat checked the needle and solution she was holding, making sure the magical components hadn’t separated. Combining potions was a delicate process and Severus had warned her about keeping it at the same temperature. It was a modified exotinculo potion, aimed at the arc reactor rather than magical power. It would make sure the palladium was used at optimal capacity so it lasted longer. Nat had put this, pepper-up and blood-replenishing into Starks drinks every three days to make sure he healed better. It didn’t work as well as being injected directly into the bloodstream, but that would be too suspicious and too difficult a task to carry out. Obliviating was not very healthy for non-magicals when the thing from the repressed memory is still there. In the new solution, with the aforementioned exotinculo, she put some internal-use murtlap-essence, to make sure his blood vessels weren’t too damaged by the toxins and to stop internal bleeding. Magi-me-more would hopefully slow down any more deterioration, and a calming draught was to keep Stark from lashing out. He probably would, but fingers-crossed not too bad. The potions needed some time to work, and freaking out would slow the process down. If he was unconscious, they could do better, but that wasn’t possible.

Currently inside, Stark would be introduced to Agent Romanoff. Another cover, not that even Fury himself knew that. Nat had a lot of titles and last names to choose from, and usually went with Natalia Peverell when conducting magical-related business. Names got you places, as well as connections, and she had a whole network, a web if you please, of them. When Carson came back with a report, Nat finally went to Fury. She felt slightly apprehensive.

‘We’ve secured the perimeter,’ Nat said as she walked towards Fury and Stark, ‘but I don’t think we should hold it for too much longer.’

Stark looked shocked and confused, which made Nat smile slightly.

‘Huh?’ he mumbled, ‘you’re uh, fired.’

‘That's not up to you.’

‘Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff.’

‘I’m a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, once we knew there was something wrong, I was tasked to you by Director Fury. We were concerned.’

‘I suggest you apologise…’

‘You’ve been very busy,’ cut in Fury, ‘made your girl your CEO, given away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit! Now, if I didn’t know better…’

‘You don’t know better, I didn’t give it to him. He took it.’

‘Woah woah woah, what, no, he took it? You’re Iron Man and he took it? He just took it? How is that possible?’

‘Well,’ spoke Nat, ‘there are protocols to prevent unauthorised access.’

‘What do you want from me?’

‘What. What do we want? From you? No what do you…’

Nat had gotten up to go get the potion, not paying attention to their conversation. It wasn’t exactly important. She then got a syringe and took it to the two men who were arguing. At Fury’s signal, she stuck it into his neck. Moving his head side to side, Nat checked to see if it was working. His pupils shrank slightly, and he looked more awake. Only time would tell how well it worked.

‘Are you gonna take my kidney and sell it?’

‘Of course not,’ said Nat while looking at the receding black veins, ‘just something to keep you going until you have a replacement. Now, it’s not a permanent solution, so you better get started soon.’

He furrowed his eyebrows, and turned to Fury, ‘What?’

‘That’s a special mix of stuff that’ll take the edge off. As Romanoff said, it’s not a solution, just something to help.’

‘I have been looking for a suitable replacement, and nothing is working.’

‘Well you haven’t tried everything. Here’s some stuff from your old man, I’m sure there’s something useful in there.’ 

‘I’ll be staying at SI to make sure you’re okay, and if anything happens. We only have two more of these for emergencies, and no, you can’t have the formula.’

…………………………………………………………

Blood Toxicity 72%

…………………………………………………………

‘Right then dad, still showing me up from the grave. J.A.R.V.I.S, how’s it looking?’

‘Good Mr Stark, it is a viable replacement for the arc reactor, and won’t need replacing as often.’

‘Great, can you find Ms Rushman for me?’

‘She is in Ms Potts’s office.’

…………………………………………………………

Blood Toxicity 0%

…………………………………………………………

‘Peaches?’

Pepper was sitting in her chair staring incredulously at an increasingly worried, confused and guilty Tony. He was sitting in the chair, resting on two legs and sprawling his feet under the desk. Nat was standing at the door frame, not eavesdropping per say, but still taking in the conversation. She was also confused at the change from strawberries to peaches.

‘I hate peaches. While it’s better than strawberries, you still haven’t paid enough attention. I don’t have time for you today, but you’re welcome to stay in here, I’ll be elsewhere.’

‘But…’

‘No, I’ve had enough lies and secrets. I’ll come to you if I need anything signing. Ms Rushman can sort you out when you're ready to leave.’ she turned to Nat, ‘i’m sorry for pushing him on you, but he needs some form of supervision.’

She then left, almost slamming the door.

‘Tasha.’

‘What was that?’

‘I… I, I mean Ms Rushman.’

‘Where did you get Tasha from?’

‘Well, I kinda know you from before.’

Nat was shocked. She had regained, or gained, memories over the course of her long, second?, life. Loki had sought her out sometime in the mid 20th century, explaining that he’d known her from before, and thought that she’d be able to help the ‘Thanos’ problem before it was an actual problem. She had unexpectedly gotten on well with Loki, and he had introduced her to the magical world, both mortal and alien. This then led to her discovery that she was magical, the meeting of Gringotts Goblins, an unlikely alliance/marriage/friendship with Loki and spinning a web in both non-magical and magical worlds. If Tony was here, then he had had to have died by the infinity stones. She had died by the soul stone, and Loki had died in contact with, or for, depending how you looked at it, the space stone.

‘Thanos, and the avengers?’

This time Tony looked shocked, ‘you, you came here? How long have you been here? Are you ok?’

He stood up, moving towards her. She smiled, eyes watering slightly, before attacking Tony in a hug and display of emotion rarely shown.

‘I’m fine, doing well. I’ve redone life really. Only got my memories when I saw Loki.’

‘You saw Loki?’

‘Yeah, we’re sort of married.’

‘Right, I’ve seen weird things. I only started remembering when I first saw you. Well I recognised you but it was only at my birthday when I realised something was wrong, and when we saw Fury that I got my memories. I was too busy thinking about the past to remember she hated peaches.’

‘Why haven’t you gotten with Pepper yet? Or at least changed a few things.’

‘I wasn’t sure what I could change, and any consequences. I presume Thanos still exists, and the stones from you mentioning Loki, so maybe change isn’t the best. If we can predict the future, maybe we have a chance of less dying. Also, Pepper’s not my wife, or the mother of my child. I don’t think I can replace Pepper with a younger version of her, it feels wrong. And she’s not the same here. Maybe I’m different, but we aren’t for each other anymore.’

‘I understand, I was going to tell Clint. But he’s not the same, I don’t want to replace someone who I died for with who feels like a copy.’

They stayed embraced for a few minutes, tears falling from their eyes, before Nat lifted her head from his neck. She moved back a step, still hugging.

‘Did you get them back?’

‘Yeah, we got everyone that was dusted back.’

‘And you?’

‘Thanos came back after Bruce brought the others back. We had another fight and it was the only way to get rid of all the enemies.’

‘How’s everyone else? She changed the subject, thinking he probably didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

‘Steve lifted Mjolnir.. You don’t even look surprised.’

‘He could almost lift it when you all tried.’

‘Why didn’t you try?’

‘I knew I wouldn’t be able to but, there was still a part of me that hoped I could, and It would prove that maybe I deserved my second chance.’

‘Well, we certainly deserve this one. So anything interesting or different about this world?’

She chuckled, ‘Harry Potter’s my son.’

He pulled away completely, ‘wait what? Are you fucking with me?’

She grinned again. Hopefully with three of them they stood a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I don't know how long it will be before I update, I haven't been in the best place mentally, but when words demand to be written you must. I'll answer any plot questions, within reason of course. Thanks for putting up with me.
> 
> E xx


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